Corticosterone effects on body mass and digestive function in Passer domesticus

PADRONES, N.; CID, F. D.; CHEDIACK, J. G.

Merlo, San Luis

Congreso; XXXV Reunión Científica Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2017

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

It is well documented that stress produce metabolic alterations and an allostatic response (activation of the HPA axis and increase of corticosterone -CORT- levels in blood) to maintain homeostasis in organisms. The objective of this work was to study the long-term CORT effects on the corporal condition and the digestive function in Passer domesticus. To achieve our goal, 32 sparrows were exposed to different concentrations of CORT in drinking water (0, 20, 40 and 80 mg/l) for 72 hours emulating a long-term stress situation. The H/L ratio was used as an indicator of stress in birds. The mass of animals and organs (heart, liver, pancreas, stomach, intestine, shank and pectoral muscle) were measured. On the other hand, intestinal enzymatic activity of sucrase, maltase and aminopeptidase was determined. We analyzed the data using ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test (p